


Hearth God

by Gallus



Series: Ghost Stories [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 12:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20291713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallus/pseuds/Gallus
Summary: Beneath the sea there exists a shrine to the patron saint of sickness, wayward travelers, and workplace safety.





	Hearth God

**Author's Note:**

> The one of the heart pirates is a dude in a mask and when I started writing I coulda sworn he was Clione but apparently he doesn't have a name! So I named the mask dude Harp (after Harp's seal) for this fic.

Bepo could tell that the new ship was haunted, what with the constant creaking and groaning. It wasn’t a bad haunting though, so there was no reason to talk about it. Sure, it was scary whenever things would come crashing to the ground, but that wasn’t the ghost’s fault.

Bepo wasn’t sure if he was supposed to talk about the ghost with the other crew members. Back home talking about a ghost could scare them off, but maybe human ghosts were different from mink ghosts?

Best not to risk it.

The ghost was kind, but weak. He couldn’t do the proper things a ghost was supposed to do, like keep the kitchen clean, or stop the food from spoiling, but he helped where he could.

Mostly with the captain.

The captain was prone to nightmares, and Bepo could tell when he’d had one because the morning after he’d smell like the ghost.

Bepo’s closest brush with the ghost had been after one such nightmare. Sometimes after his nightmares the captain would wander the corridors of the Polar Tang.

One night Bepo woke up to a loud bang. Several books had fallen off his desk. As he sleepily put the books back in place he noticed the overpowering smell of smoke in the room.

The smell of the ghost.

Bepo stood still for a moment, afraid that if he acknowledged the smell the ghost would hide away and never come back. Slowly he started to move toward the smell. It led him out of his room and down the hall to find the captain tucked in a corner, fast asleep.

Bepo carefully lifted the captain up, and carried him back to his bed. The whole time the smell of smoke followed. Bepo was glad the ghost cared about the captain, the captain made it so hard to take care of him sometimes.

With the captain safely in bed Bepo expected the ghost to fade away for the night, but it lingered for a moment. A breeze brushed past Bepo’s left ear, and then the smoke smell was gone.

Bepo felt like he should maybe say something, but saying anything would only wake the captain up.

-

There was a mouse on board, Penguin just knew it. Nothing else could explain all the creaking, it had to be a mouse running around in the walls. And it wasn’t just the noises, food was also going missing.

(Well… half finished forgotten cups of coffee, and dirty dishes lying next to the sink were turning up clean. But it was the same principal.)

Law claimed he didn’t notice anything, which was just about the biggest load of bull Penguin had heard in awhile. Someone started keeping things extra clean after the mouse showed up, and it sure wasn’t Bepo.

There was a mouse on board, and Law was too embarrassed or whatever to acknowledge it, so Law had started doing some extra cleaning on the downlow to try to find the mouse.

It was the only thing that made sense.

If having a mouse running around was what it took for Law to get some cleaning done, than so be it. Penguin still bought some mouse traps at the next port.

Law must have caught it though, because the traps never turned up anything.

The ship stayed clean after that.

-

This goddamn ship was haunted. Penguin said there was just a mouse problem, but Uni knew better than that. Mice didn’t move things bigger than books around, or dust the shelves with their little paws, or sound suspiciously like a grown man tripping.

No, the Polar Tang was haunted, and Uni had first hand proof!

He had been down in the engine room when it had happened. He was cleaning some parts, and minding his own business when he saw it.

The shape of a man in the hall.

Then, like any reasonable person would have done, Uni screamed like a little girl and backpedaled into a crate.

He would have smashed his head into a pipe if he hadn't caught himself at the last second.

(Later, when Law is giving him a lecture about workplace safety, Uni will remember the feeling of a hand on his shoulder at the last second righting him. Then he’ll stop remember that because Law will be yelling for him to pay attention.)

-

Shachi was making breakfast, only half listening to Uni’s paranoid ranting, when Harp walked in. Harp was a weird one. He’d only been on the crew for a short time now, but he seemed nice enough. Nice enough for Law to approve anyway, and if someone was good enough for the captain than they were good enough for Shachi.

Uni turned his attention to Harp, “You’ve seen it right?” he said, “The ghost?”

Harp’s mask remained as expressionless as ever, but underneath it Shachi could tell he’d perked up a little. “A ghost ye say?”

Free from Uni’s attention Shachi got back to breakfast. It wouldn't be long before Law was up, and the coffee had better be ready by then.

Uni and Harp’s conversation quickly turned into some kind of debate. Shachi tuned them out. By the time Law got up the debate had drawn in Ikkaku, Clione, and a nervous looking Bepo.

Uni turned to Law, but before he could say anything he was cut off by a sleepy, “Not until I’ve had my coffee.”

Penguin helped set the table, as Law yawned his way to his seat. Uni bounced his leg.

Law took a gulp of his coffee as everyone took their seats. He stared forward for a long moment, distinctly ignoring Uni, as everyone else started into breakfast. Then he sighed, and dryly asked, “What’s today's nonsense.”

Uni slammed his hands on the table as he jumped up, “Harp wants to put up a creepy shrine to the ghost!”

Harp held up his hands placatingly, “I only wish to build a home for the hearth god.” he said, like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.

Harp hadn't given the full details of the situation yet, but Shachi knew that him and his family had been persecuted for their practice of what Harp called the “old ways”.

Shachi knew a little about these old ways himself, the old people back on swallow had relatively superstitious, and the beliefs seemed to be mostly the same. He’d never heard of a hearth god before though. “A home for the what?” he asked.

“The hearth god!” Harp repeated. “If a home is loved that draws the attention of a, a..” he trailed off and snapped his fingers a few times looking the right word, “A spirit! Or an ancestor.”

“A ghost!” Uni said accusingly.

Harp shook his head “Nay, not a ghost.” he said, “It’s a kind of protector. they need homes, and the ‘Tang’s poor god has no home to live.” 

Law rubbed his brow. “And what would building this home entail exactly?” he asked.

“Nothing large.” Harp assured, “Just a place on the shelf in the common room will do. I’ll put up a box, and we’ll leave it little offerings.”

“See?!” Uni said, “It’s creepy.”

Law sighed. “So what do the rest of you think? He asked.

“I think it sounds cute!” said Ikkaku.

Clione nodded along, “Yeah. it’d be like a thank you to the ship, captain.”

Penguin scowled, and jabbed toward the three with his fork.. “You guys aren’t building a little house for the mouse to live in.” he said jabbing toward the three with his fork.

“It sounds like more clutter.” Shachi said. He wasn’t keen on having something else to dust.

“Well,” Law said as he took a bite of his toast, “looks like you're the tie breaker, Bepo.”

Everyone turned to look a Bepo, who shifted nervously under the attention. “Umm.” he started “Uh, I didn’t know it was okay to talk about the ghost. Sorry. But. I think we should do it. It seems like he’d like it.”

Law turned to Harp, “It’ll be your responsibility to keep it tidy. Got that?” 

It was hard to tell, but Harp was smiling under his mask. He saluted, and said, “Yes sir!” much to Uni’s dismay.

-

Harp cleared a spot on top of the shelf, and stuck an old shoe box with a hole cut side on it. Clione found mug that was too chipped to use, but too pretty to throw away to put offerings in. Ikkaku put a few hair bands, and a pen that looked like a flower into the mug. Bepo used the pen to draw fish on the sides of the shoe box.

As time went on the mug acquired a few more things, some more pens, a beaded bracelet, and the box gained a few more drawings.

It was kind of weird how every night Harp would set aside a bit of his dinner, and put it on a little saucer in front of the box. But the saucer always turned up in the sink and clean by morning, so it was fine.

-

Clione noticed things were different after they put up Harp’s weird little box house. Little things. Like how food seemed to last a little bit longer, or how the ship wasn’t as dusty as it used to be.

And come to think of it, it had been awhile since the last time anyone had gotten hurt in the engine room.

The box was supposed to be some kind of ghost house. Harp, Bepo, and Uni all seemed to think the ship was haunted in one way or another, and Clione would be lying if he said he’d never seen the shape of a man out of the corner of his eye at night.

Maybe there was something to all of this. He’d tuck a thank you note in the box just in case.

-

Usually being boarded during a fight was a bad thing. Not for the Heart Pirates.

Ikkaku chalked it up to fighting on home turf mostly, but she couldn’t deny that the Polar Tang seem to be particularly hazardous to foes. There was always a puddle or a bit of garbage in just the right place to trip an opponent last second.

Ikkaku found it especially strange when when she realized just how clean the ship was on any given day. Sixteen men on board, and not a single speck of dust out of place.

It wasn’t until the day she was working on the pipes that figured it out. One of the hot water lines was leaky, and it was Ikkaku’s turn to patch it up. It was a little out of reach, so she was balanced on a chair when the ship hit a rough current.

Ikkaku would have fallen had it not been for the pair of hands on her shoulders holding her in place. When the ship steadied she turned to thank whoever it was that had helped her, but the hall was empty except for the smell of cigarette smoke.

No one on the crew smoked.

Sometimes the captain would tell stories of a man that was so clumsy he would light himself on fire standing still.

Harp always left a little bit of his dinner behind for his hearth god. Ikkaku figured on nights when she cooked the god would appreciate a little dessert too.

-

It was some time after Jean Bart had gotten his tour of the Polar Tang when he noticed the strange box on the shelf in the common room.

He walked over to get a closer look. The corners of the box had rounded with age, and it was covered in faded drawings. Stranger still were the little trinkets surrounding the box, a chipped coffee mug full of pens here, some shiny rocks there. The box had a hole cut into the side of it, and Jean Bart could see bits of paper sticking out.

He reached to open the box when Penguin and Shachi rounded the corner.

“I see you’ve found Harp’s little shrine.” said Penguin.

“It’s more like a communal thing at this point.” Shachi said as he flopped onto the couch.

Jean Bart pulled his hand away. “A shrine?” he asked, “To what?”

Shachi smiled, “The ghost.”

“What ghost?”

Penguin smiled as well, and waved a hand dismissively. “Oh don’t worry about it.” he said, “You’ll meet him sooner or later.”

-

It was one of Law’s gray days, Bepo could tell by the way the smoke smell hung over him. Bepo made sure to be an extra good pillow on those days.

It was a slow day. Bepo was laying on the deck half watching Shachi fish, half watching the clouds, when Law showed up.

He was being urged on by the ghost. Bepo still wasn’t sure if the captain really knew about the ghost, he never talked about it. Maybe he was like Bepo, and was scared that the ghost would leave if he acknowledged him.

Law flopped down onto Bepo’s side, and curled up to sleep. Bepo could have sworn he’d felt the breezy touch of the ghost’s hand card through Law’s hair, but saying anything would only wake Law up.

**Author's Note:**

> im still working on Crookedtooth this just came out of nowhere and i had to write it lol


End file.
